


eyes burn blind

by lilibug



Series: across the lilac sky [1]
Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: AU, Boys Being Boys, First Meetings, Fluff, M/M, Meet-Cute, Swughead, Twilight Drive-In, moments from the LCT universe
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-11
Updated: 2018-06-11
Packaged: 2019-05-20 20:31:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,702
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14901479
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lilibug/pseuds/lilibug
Summary: “Sweet Pea.”Looking up as his eyebrows knitted together, beanie-boy was the very picture of confusion. “What?”“My name’s Sweet Pea,” he said with a shrug.Beanie-boy raised an eyebrow, pulling his hands away from the tangled film. “Jughead.”Sweet Pea must have pulled a face, because he continued.“You really going to throw stones from that glass house when you’re named after a flower?”





	eyes burn blind

**Author's Note:**

> For the Southside showcase event on tumblr! This is also set in the LCT universe, a prequel of sorts. :)
> 
> This was a collaboration with Mila (@stark), who made an amazing gifset for this. [Please check it out!](https://stark.tumblr.com/post/174774044706/southside-showcase-day-one-twilight-drive-in)
> 
> This was beta'd by [theheavycrown](https://theheavycrown.tumblr.com) and [opportunistichag](https://archiveofourown.org/users/OpportunisticHag/pseuds/OpportunisticHag)! MY BABES

The Twilight Drive-In was an underrated privilege for Southsiders.

Sweet Pea liked riding his bike down to the outdoor movie venue, pulling a lawn chair from the back of Tall Boy’s truck, and stretching out. Sometimes he even chanced sneaking a beer from the cooler and no one made much of a fuss. They all looked (up) at him like they felt sorry for him, even though their own situations were just as rocky.

They stayed in the back near the fence, because despite being on the other side of the tracks, the Northsiders still thought they owned the place. Everything down here was scum on their shoe, so he was surprised they were so into parking their cars and watching the dirt tinted movie screen.

Yeah, the snacks were over priced, but still cheaper than the movie theater uptown. The concessions did sell $1 hotdogs and Sweet Pea usually bought as many as he could carry for himself and Fangs. They went fast.

Tarantino was one of his favorite directors, and the drive-in was playing both volumes of _Kill Bill_ across the two days of the weekend. Fangs hadn't seen either film for some insane reason and Sweet Pea felt protective over them, so that little shit better like them.

They got there early, heat still thick and heavy in the air. He’d been wearing his denim vest all summer, sleeveless and much lighter than the leather jacket.

Fangs liked to show off his biceps to anyone who was willing to look. That’s where he planned on putting his Serpent tattoo when he went through with initiation.

Sweet Pea’s tattoo was on display all the time, having chosen his neck for its placement. It had been his first tattoo, and many of the other Serpents had discouraged his choice, but he never did things half assed. That first taste of the inky needle against his skin left him craving more and he had most recently added two lines inked around his thumb. Toni did a pretty good job keeping the lines straight, but still needed to touch them up after they healed.

The movie wasn’t set to begin for another 30 minutes, so they could just dick around until then.

As random advertisements played out across the field of vehicles, they found more interesting forms of entertainment. Which mostly involved picking up handfuls of gravel and pelting each other with it, sometimes the fence, but generally each other.

Brushing the grey dust from his t-shirt, Sweet Pea decided to head to the concessions to get in line and grab hotdogs right as they opened. Fangs would secure their rickety lawn chairs in the prime spot, with a good view of the screen but far enough away from the slow trickle of cars into the lot.

He had a twenty that he’d borrowed from his Grams after promising to tend to the flowerbeds tomorrow afternoon. She had patted his belly, since she couldn’t reach his head anymore, and told him not to cause trouble. It was hard to disobey her without feeling like shit, so he hoped he didn’t have to.

Walking around the building that housed the projection booth and concession stand, Sweet Pea noticed a roll of film unraveled across the ground in his path.

Shit. That wasn’t tonight’s reel was it?

He crouched down, picking up the strip by the edges and squinting at the dark colored plastic. He couldn’t tell for sure, but if the way someone was cursing up a storm through the ajar door was any indication, he should probably pick it up.

Looping the film together, careful not to smudge it with his fingers, he walked to the door at the side of the building. He used the toe of his boot to tap against the wood, then pushed it open with his shoulder after a moment without response.

“Hey, I think you dropped this—”

Sweet Pea’s mouth snapped shut when he saw the disarray the room was in. “Uhhh.” His eyebrows lifted after a quick sweep of his surroundings.

The kid in the middle of it all was elbow deep in a reel of film and wearing a beanie (what the fuck, it’s _summer_ dude). Metal cases were strewn about and popped open amongst various metal objects and tools scattered across what looked like his living space, it was chaos.

“Yeah, just stand there like an idiot staring at me. That makes everything better.” The boy grunted, running a hand down his face in frustration.

He looked like he was about the same age with a similar lanky, towering height. The short-sleeve plaid shirt he wore matched the self-imposed uniform of a Southsider, but Sweet Pea didn't recognize him.

The guy finally looked up from the reel to acknowledge Sweet Pea before glancing back down then up again to narrow his eyes. “What are you even doing here? Is that my film?” His hand stretched out, palm upturned and waiting.

“Well,” Sweet Pea drawled, “it was laying in the dirt outside so I thought I’d pick it up, incase somebody walked by and stomped on Uma Thurman's face.”

He walked all of two steps into the room, handing over the strip of film that was somehow connected to the mess on the table.

“Thanks,” the mysterious beanie-boy pinched the bridge of his nose.

“Sweet Pea.”

Looking up as his eyebrows knitted together, beanie-boy was the very picture of confusion. “What?”

“My name’s Sweet Pea,” he said with a shrug.

Beanie-boy raised an eyebrow, pulling his hands away from the tangled film. “Jughead.”

Sweet Pea must have pulled a face, because he continued.

“You really going to throw stones from that glass house when you’re named after a flower?”

Arms crossing over one another, Sweet Pea shrugged a shoulder lazily. “Guess we got similar problems.” He nodded towards the film, “But you look like you’ve got a big one there.”

Jughead sighed, leaning back against the black box that the projector sat on. “I don’t know how it got like this. It was all fucked up when I opened the case.”

Looking over the strands, Sweet Pea plucked up one end of the film. “Because I’ll be pissed if I miss this movie, I’ll help you.”

“Oh gee, thanks.”

Jughead’s eyes rolled and Sweet Pea was drawn to the way the blue flashed in the rapidly disappearing light.

He shook his head. “Whatever, dude. I could just leave.” Shoving his hands in his pockets with a shrug, he started to turn.

“Wait—”

A hand curled around his forearm and tugged.

“If I want to play this on time and not get shit from my boss, then yeah, I guess I need help.” Jughead said, rather begrudgingly.

The hand left his arm and Sweet Pea looked up at Jughead, then to the film. “We have like 20 minutes. Let’s do this.”

They worked together, untangling the film in a strangely comfortable silence.

Sweet Pea didn’t ask about the sleeping bag, camp light, or personal effects.

Jughead didn’t ask about the tattoo or the snake on his back — though he seemed like he was going to about five different times.

Instead, they talked about movies.

“So you like _Kill Bill,_ then?” Jughead asked, manipulating the film in his hands for emphasis.

“I fucking _love_ _Kill Bill_ ,” he’d replied with a grin. “It would have been great if it was a double feature tonight and you could have played _Pulp Fiction_ tomorrow.”

Jughead’s lip twitched up into a half-smirk. “So I guess the better question is, do you like Quentin Tarantino?”

“Hell yes.”

They found an enthusiastic common ground with that, discussing films that spanned the generations.

“Oh come on, you’ve never seen _The Outsiders_? You’re like a walking ad.” Jughead looked him up and down, eyes lingering on the tattoo.

Sweet Pea’s fingers came up to brush at it, tracing the outline of the body like he could see the curve of it. He snorted and resumed work on the last knot in the film. “Thanks, dipshit. I’ll check it out since it’s such a tragedy that I haven't seen this masterpiece.”

“I bet you twenty bucks you’ll like Dally the most.”

“Fuck you.”

Jughead held his hands up in surrender and then dusted them off. “Anyway, I think we’re done here.”

Standing back from the table, Sweet Pea watched as he took a white cloth and wiped along the strip as he wound it back onto the reel.

“Teamwork,” he shrugged, eyes flickering towards the window of the building. “Guess I’ll see you around, Jughead.”

He received a distracted nod in return. Jughead’s concentration was directed at the film reel he was setting up on the projector with long, thin fingers in calculated, careful movements.

For some reason, Sweet Pea had trouble tearing his eyes away.

“I’ll play _Pulp Fiction_ next week. Maybe I’ll even put in a request that we get the reel for _The Outsider_ s.” Jughead looked over his shoulder at him, a hint of a smile creeping up.

“Cool.” Stomach churning, Sweet Pea backed out of the building, hand tapping against the doorframe as he lingered. “I’ll come beat down this door if the movie fucks up.”

Jughead’s eyes rolled. “If it fucks up, it’ll be half your fault, Sweet Pea.”

The hairs on his arm stood up and he tripped backwards, turning away from piercing eyes. “Bullshit. I’m leaving before I get the beat down from Fangs. Later.”

He got a two-fingered salute and a quizzical eyebrow raise from Jughead before he disappeared from view.

Sweet Pea’s skin suddenly felt even hotter than the summer weather warranted and he pressed his back against the cool brick, scanning the full lot of cars and people. He felt out of sorts, kind of like he’d been upended.

For some reason, he was utterly distracted and kept thinking about the blue of Jughead’s eyes and his fucking hands.

Jesus christ.

He knew he wasn’t exactly straight, but this was kind of annoying.

Sweet Pea shook his head, clearing his thoughts, and turned the corner of the building, the concessions line was way longer than he would have liked.

“Fuck.”

Fangs was gonna kill him.

**Author's Note:**

> I have plans for another Sweet Pea fic a little later, when they're all at Riverdale high together.
> 
> [@lilibug--xx](https://lilibug--xx.tumblr.com) on tumblr.


End file.
